Association of Chartered Teachers Scotland

ACTS committee members are involved in establishing and running the Chartered Teacher Glow group.  Glow is Scotland’s national education intranet and has been signed-up to by all 32 local authorities.  This means that all teachers should have access to this online portal shortly; indeed many already have, with teachers around the country making use of the various embedded resources and communication tools.

One such tool, which the Chartered Teacher Glow group will attempt to make full use of, is Glow Meet.  This is a web conferencing tool which can connect eductors from around the country live for a set time, only requiring that they have a Glow login, access to the web, and computer speakers (with webcam and mic optional).  Below is a list of the Glow Meet sessions which are open to all members of the group (to join the CT Glow group click here):

The first session takes place on Thursday, 29th October from 7.30pm to 8.15pm. Details are below:

Title: October Glow Meet: Discussion on the Revised Standard for Chartered Teacher
Begin: 29/10/2009 19:30
End: 29/10/2009 20:15
Description: David Noble and Dorothy Coe from the Association of Chartered Teachers Scotland will chair this discussion session. In preparation, the Standard for Chartered Teacher is available for download here.

You will be able to listen to the discussion and, if you wish, contribute via your mic or webcam, or by typing in the text-chat area. To enter the Glow Meet, click on the link before 7.30pm on the 29th. Then follow the on-screen prompts. Comprehensive guides on using Glow Meet are available here.  Alternatively, email actscotland@yahoo.com and request a one-to-one GlowMeet trial.

Please remember that you need to join the Chartered Teacher Glow Group before you can participate in one of the above Glow Meets.

Member and Chartered Teacher,  Lucy Hare,  was welcomed to the committee meeting.  Lucy would later be co-opted onto the committee, returning it to a capacity of fifteen members.

There have been ongoing investigations into how Chartered Teachers who are no longer studying at a Higher education establishment can access academic journals.  There was a concern that the new Code of Practice on the Role of the Chartered Teacher placed an emphasis on the Chartered Teacher staying abreast of the latest research, theory and practice, while not providing guidance on how such information could be obtained.  This point had been made to the TES Scotland who had approached ACTS for a response to the publication of the Code.

David Noble spoke about progress on the planned February 2010 ACTS conference, provisionally titled, ‘Engaging with new practice, research, and policy’.  He had been in discussion with many of the national education agencies and Chartered Teacher Programme providers.  Sponsorship has been obtained from two organisations and further discussions will take place during October.  David is in contact with two events organisers and a final decision on the direction to proceed will be taken at the end of October.  The event, which is ‘pencilled-in’ for Saturday, 6th February, will be promoted from mid-November onwards.  It is envisaged that the event will appeal to:  Chartered Teachers; those ‘on the route’; teachers who are considering Chartered Teacher; practitioners who wish to share their enhanced practice; Chartered Teacher Programme providers and academic researchers; policy-makers and other educationists from national and international agencies; and commercial companies.  There will be CPD, research, policy, and good practice sessions; with networking opportunities and the ACTS Annual General Meeting.  It is planned that a Question Time-style debate will be one of the session choices in the afternoon.

The Charterd Teacher Glow Group is now established at https://portal.glowscotland.org.uk/establishments/nationalsite/Chartered%20Teachers/default.aspx.  ACTS have agreed with Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) to operate the Glow Group on behalf of all people who have access to Glow and who wish to be members of a Chartered Teacher-focused community.  Monthly Glow Meets (web conferences) will take place, with the programme of sessions available at https://portal.glowscotland.org.uk/establishments/nationalsite/Chartered%20Teachers/Lists/Events/AllItems.aspx.  The first one takes place from 7.30 – 8.15pm on Thursday, 29th October, with a discussion around the Revised Standard for Chartered Teacher.  Any Glow user can request membership of the Glow Group and then be able to attend the Glow Meets.

Dorothy Coe informed the committee that the Autumn issue of the ACTS newsletter had been emailed to ACTS members and is available on the website.  The next edition will include conference information, an article on Co-operative Learning, and a printable ACTS flyer for staffrooms.

ACTS are considering whether to affiliate with the College of Teachers.  Discussion will be taking place on the committee’s private wiki and a decision will be taken before the next meeting.

Finally, ACTS continue to pursue charitable status.

The next committee meeting will take place in Edinburgh on Saturday, 21st November from 10.30am – 12pm.  Members who wish to attend should email actscotland@yahoo.com for further details.

The Autumn 2009 ACTS newsletter is now available.  Please click on the link below to view.

ACTS newsletter – Autumn 2009

The SNCT Code of Practice on the role of the Chartered Teacher (Part 2: Appendix 2.16, Role of the Chartered Teacher) can be viewed by clicking on the link below.  The revised Standard for Chartered Teacher can also be viewed.

SNCT Code of Practice on the role of the Chartered Teacher

Standard for Chartered Teacher – September 2009

The ACTS committee welcome your comments on the content of the newsletter and these new documents.  You can post your thoughts here by clicking on “Comment/s” above, or by emailing actscotland@yahoo.com.

Report on the ACTS committee meeting, held on 22^nd August

in Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae

Winter Conference

David presented his exciting proposal that ACTS organise and host a Winter conference, aimed at Chartered Teachers (but not exclusively) and complementary to the GTCS event.  This is to be primarily a participative event, accommodating a presentation from a speaker of note and opportunities for:  CPD, presentation and advancement of research, dissemination of good practice, and engagement with policy.

February was thought to be an ideal time of year, and David is to explore the possibilities for funding and a suitable venue with professional conference organisers.

Published articles

Two committee members have had articles published recently in the TESS.  More articles with a focus on teaching and learning practice are to follow.

ACTS Members standing for the GTCS

Committee member Karen Farrell is standing for election to the GTCS.  Members, Linda Fisher-Dougan and Andrew McNeil, are also standing.

Chartered Teacher academic articles

Three papers relating to Chartered Teachers are available through the journal, Professional Development in Education.  Follow the link here to a free copy of this journal, where each of the articles can be found.

Access to academic journals

ACTS is to investigate how Chartered Teachers might gain free access to academic journals and libraries.

Chartered Teacher Glow Group

This has now been set up and will be a focus for continued development by Dorothy and David.  It will provide a means of online communication through Glow and Glow Meet.  The group will be launched at the Scottish Learning Festival on 23rd September with a brief Glow Meet at 7pm.  You can find out more about the plans for the Glow Group by visiting here at 7pm on the 23rd.  Alternatively, click here to see an outline of planned Glow Meets during session 2009-10.

Staffroom posters

A printable poster for staffrooms, promoting ACTS, will be added to the next newsletter.

Visit next year by Anne Webb, Principal, Rossmore Public School, Australia

This award-winning Australian teacher will visit Scotland next year.  It is hoped that some exchange of ideas can be arranged through ACTS.

College of Teachers

Possible connections with the College of Teachers will be explored at the next meeting.

The next ACTS committee meeting will take place in Bellshill on Saturday, 3rd October.  Please email actscotland@yahoo.com if you would like to attend.  Committee meetings are open to all members of ACTS.

The ACTS Committee met on Saturday 13^th June in Peebles.

Annie welcomed everyone and thanked them for travelling to Peebles for the meeting.

Membership continues to grow steadily.  It was decided that once charitable status has been gained, the Paypal facility for online subscription payments will be reinstated.  A flyer giving details about ACTS can be sent to all EIS members.  Contacting all Module 1 candidates presents more problems, and solutions will be pursued over the holidays.

The profile of ACTS continues to be high.  Many people made enquiries about ACTS at the GTCS Chartered Teacher Conference on 30^th May in Glasgow.  Members had appreciated the opportunity to hear Prof Andy Hargreaves and enjoyed networking with other Chartered Teachers.  The discussion part of the day was seen as valuable though perhaps too restricted in its focus questions.

It was agreed that ‘good practice’ needs to be given more prominence.  Our next newsletter will feature articles from members on this theme.  Other articles would be welcomed.  Investigations have begun into acquiring access to an Athens account.

There was extended discussion about the response to GTCS Consultation. This will be summarised and submitted to GTCS in the required format, including responses made on the ACTS committee wiki pages.

Three members of the ACTS committee have places at the Scottish International Summer School on School Leadership.

Venues for future meetings were discussed and will be explored.  The next meeting will be on 29^th August on Cumbrae.

To read the newsletter, click on the image above, or the link below.
acts-newsletter_summer_2009

The ACTS Committee met at Woodfarm High School, East Renfrewshire on Saturday, 25th April.  David was pleased to report that there were 98 Full and Associate members of the association, with email and letter membership invitations being sent out to those who attended the recent reception at the Scottish Parliament and who are not yet members.

A brief discussion took place reflecting on the success of the reception.  Duncan was thanked for organising the fantastic musical segments during the morning.  It was felt that the committee had ensured that the event was well organised and run, with some pointers for development.  Fiona Hyslop’s keynote can be read here.

David asked that all those involved in the association consider sending him useful weblinks which may be of interest to Chartered Teachers.  This could include academic papers, news stories, resources, discussions etc.  All links will be hosted at the ACTS virtual library; details of which will follow.

ACTS will have a table at the GTCS/Scottish Government Chartered Teacher conference, which takes place at the Hilton, Glasgow on Saturday, 30th May, with a keynote from Andy Hargreaves.  A sub-committee is hoping to organise a social event close-by for after the end of conference.  Details will be contained in the next ACTS newsletter which is due to be issued before the end of the month.

ACTS and individual members are invited to take part in the national consultation on the GTCS (’Towards an Independent General Teaching Council for Scotland: Consultation on the future status of the GTCS’).  Some initial points were made, with the recognition that a longer discussion is necessary in order to construct a useful response.  The deadline for which is 26th June.

Finally, we looked into raising the idea of making a regular article contribution to the TESS and raised a request from HMiE for examples of ‘good practice’ by Chartered Teachers.

The next meeting of the ACTS committee will take place in Peebles on Saturday, 13th June.

ACTS can be contacted at actscotland@yahoo.com.

• Please click on the link to read the ACTS Reception report (thanks to Dorothy and Paddy)
  
• To watch an edited recording of the event, please click here
• An ACTS membership form can be downloaded from here.

Invitation to Launch

You are warmly invited to the launch of

The Association of Chartered Teachers Scotland

at 10am on 21^st March 2009 at the Scottish Parliament

Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Life-long Learning will attend. Key Speakers will be Matthew MacIver CBE, former Chief Executive of the GTCS, and Walter Humes, Research Professor of Education and Associate Dean, University of the West of Scotland. We will welcome other representatives of the Scottish Government and the GTCS, those with a professional interest in education, and members of the Scottish Press, as well as accredited Chartered Teachers and those on the route, programme providers, and professional organisations such as the EIS and SSTA.

The event will be accompanied by music from Scottish pupils, and refreshments will be provided.

We very much hope you will be able to attend this important occasion.

To acquire tickets for this event please go to

http://tinyurl.com/actslaunch

Tickets will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Join the Association by following the membership links to the left of this page or by downloading and printing the form, here.

The first General Meeting of the association took place on 13th December at The Optima in Glasgow.  Almost thirty teachers who are Chartered or on the route attended, and were informed by Annie McSeveney, Dorothy Coe and David Noble of the progress made by the steering group during 2008.  This included establishing the aims, setting up communication channels such as email, blog, wiki, newsletter and PayPal, and producing a draft constitution (which was adopted during the meeting).   Updates were provided on the formal launch (see below), membership, the Chartered Teacher Glow group, and moves towards charitable status.  Presently, the committee has fourteen members, with one vacancy.  Many thanks to Joe and Joan at the SQA for providing the venue. 

The first meeting of 2009 took place at Hillhead High School in Glasgow on 17th January.  Committee members were given a tour of the association’s blog and basic training on making use of the wiki for group communication.  The formal launch of the association will take place at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Saturday, 21st March.  Already, several eminent educationalists and politicians have agreed to attend, and a sub-committee are working on organising the day and promoting it among all those with an interest in Chartered Teacher.  If you would like to register to attend the launch, please click here.

The next meeting will take place at Woodfarm High School in Thornliebank, East Renfrewshire on Saturday, 21st February.